The Fall Festival on the Farm

Last night we had what we hope is the first of many Fall Festivals on the Farm. It was a great afternoon/evening. After weeks of cold, rainy, gloomy weather, the sun came out, the air warmed up slightly, and it ended up being the perfect day for a party.

First you need to know how this came about. The Husband has a tendency towards grandiose ideas for parties. Unfortunately, in the past, he has tried to pull them off on a few days notice. Having voiced his desire for a Fall Festival in the past, I felt some planning in advance was called for.

We got our pig from a local farm, Highview Pastures. It was pasture-raised, Berkshire cross.

The owners were wonderful. They promptly answered all our questions (and boy did I pepper them with questions and request), opened their place for a visit, and delivered the pig to us. They even brought us extra pig offal (they had processed another pig at the same time they processed ours).

The Husband took the party as an impetus to get some things done with the pole barn - our party location. We now how power to the pole barn (yeay) and we were able to organize and clear out a lot of things. In addition, we bought some 30 bales of straw to use at the party and later for our chickens and the dog (I hear straw is the best bedding for dogs during the cold, cold winters).

So, let's return to the day of the party.

Our friend, the Pig Roaster Extraordinaire, showed up way before the butt-crack of dawn (before 5am) with pig roaster in tow. The Pig Roaster Extraordinaire (or PRE) had some culinary tricks up his sleeve. First, there was stuffing the cavity of the pig with a mix of sauerkraut and apples (and a secret blend of spices). PRE expertly stitched up said pig and the pig was rolled up in a wire mesh to facilitate easy flipping throughout the roasting process. PRE also brought a special basting liquid, again with a special blend of spices, which was liberally applied to the pig on each flipping (done on the hour).

The Husband and I worked to get the pole barn ready for the party. It is always the case that all this work gets pushed and crammed to the last minute. Aside from the Christmas lights in the rafters, we spread out several bales of straw, set up the tables (some bought, most rented), and made sure all things were ready for the apple tasting, the homemade canned goods swap, and the pumpkin pie contest.
We set up a kids activity table with small pumpkins to paint, some wood pumpkin and autumn leaf cut outs to paint, paper, paints, and crayons.














The pig was absolutely fantastic - so juicy, tender, and lots of flavor. I will admit: PRE, the Husband, and I helped ourselves to an ear and the snout well before any guests arrived. PRE even made a pate from one of the livers for lunch (and a side dish for the buffet table). We got buns from Brick Oven Bakery in Northfield - a rustic French, an Oatmeal, and their signature Minnesota Rice.

The apples for the apple tasting (and the cider) were from Pepin Heights Orchard in Lake Pepin. We had 6 different varieties: Honeycrisp, Cortland, Prima, McIntosh, Green Gold, and Haralson. The favorite of this year's festival was the Honeycrisp. Next year, we hope to have a SweeTango.














We had 4 pies entered in the pumpkin pie contest - all vying for the coveted 2009 Walnut Nocino. We ended up with a tie between two of those pies. Every judge said that all of the pies were very good, but each was very different from any of the others. They had such a hard time deciding. In the end, a blind draw between the two winners determined who went home with the nocino.













We had so many people attend: neighbors, Guard friends, people the Husband knew from high school whom he hadn't seen in years, friends from Kantorei. There were smores, which were a big hit with the kids. It was a great time. Husband and I pretty much passed out upon hitting the pillows. Now, after a bit of rest and recovery, we're looking forward to next year's festival. I'm thinking a wild game festival...

Joan Baez

Last night, I watched American Masters on PBS. This episode was about Joan Baez. I have to admit that I slowed in my channel surfing only because a) there was nothing else on - can you tell we don't have cable or satelite? and b) Joan Baez is a musician. I've known OF Joan Baez, but I guess I had pretty much thought that I knew what she was about: peace, folk music, and the 60s.

I have to say that I was drawn into this look into Joan Baez's life. I got a better understanding of why she got involved with the activism that she did. I learned that her family were Quakers - thus she grew up learning non-violence. As a young child, she challenged the things that she thought were wrong. As a senior in high school, she protested the school nuclear drills because she felt the were ineffectual and served no real purpose.

It seems that she got into the folk music scene quite by accident. She had taught herself the guitar growing up and sang with one of her sisters (Oh, how I can relate to that!). She tried college (well, more was attending college on paper) and got playing in the right town (Boston) at the right time. She ended up on stage at a folk festival and poof! She was christened Queen of Folk Music! If only it was like that for the rest of us!

Whether you agree with Joan Baez's political philosophies or not, I think you should at least admire her steadfastness to her convictions of non-violence and peaceful protest. This was a woman who walked the walk - not just talked the talk. She was walking with the protesters in the South working for racial equality. She spoke out against war (whether past or present). She has put herself in dangerous areas so that she could see for herself what was going on.

One thing that I think present protesters (whatever they are protesting for or against) miss something that I saw in Joan Baez. Joan would protest not by shouting or slandering. She didn't resist any law enforcement presence. There were no signs with hateful words. She would say her piece softly but strongly. She understood that she was making a statement and that in order for it to have any power, she had to do it peacefully and respectfully. When she got arrested, there was no dragging her heels or trying to be a dead weight. There was no yelling or taunting of law enforcement. She went quickly and quietly with law enforcement and went through the process.

As a singer, Joan's voice is very iconic. You hear a song that she is singing and you immediately know that it is her. Perhaps because I am a fellow soprano with a fairly light and quick vibrato, but there is something comforting in her voice. I admit that I don't have any of Joan Baez's music myself, but perhaps I'll have to rethink that now.

What about you? Is there a person (musician or not) who had an impact on you in some way?

Thousand Hills Cattle Company Open House

I just got back from the Thousand Hills Cattle Company open house event and I had to do a post. For those who don't know, Thousand Hills Cattle Company is a grass-fed beef producer that is based out of Cannon Falls. The Husband and I really like their beef. It has a much better flavor than conventionally raised beef and it has a lot of other benefits, too. I learned much more about those benefits at the the open house today.

The day started off at Grandpa's Garage in Cannon Falls. We met with Todd Churchill, the head of Thousand Hills Cattle Company, who spoke throughout the event about what they do and why the do it.

First we picked up the obligatory swag. I really liked the MN Cooks calendar, so I had to pick that one up. Then, we introduced ourselves (there were about 20 of us) and said why we were there today. I, of course, said that I love food and that my husband and I were very interested in the local and sustainable food movements.

We had grass-fed beef hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch.

It was great to have a hamburger that was not well-done. The burger was very flavorful with a nice char and very juicy - but not so juicy that it rendered the bun a soaked mess. The hot dogs were also excellent - a lot more robust flavor than any national brand hot dog with a more dental texture. The skin didn't have a lot of crispness (I like to have a bit of snap), but the flavor more than made up for that.

Todd spoke a lot about the benefits of grass-fed beef. There is the health aspect: Conventional beef has an Omega-6 fatty acid (the bad one) to Omega-3 fatty acid (the good one) ratio of about 20:1. Humans should really have an O-6:O-3 ratio of 6:1. The oft touted "Mediterranean Diet" has a ratio of 4:1. Thousand Hills Cattle Company beef has been measured to have a O-6:O-3 ratio of 2:1 and even 1:1. Pretty impressive stuff!

Additionally, cattle are meant to eat grasses - not grains. In order to eat the grains (corn, soybeans, etc), the PH of the cattle's stomach drops from 6.5 to 4.5. Guess what nasty organism thrives at 4.5 - that's right - E. Coli! Just by going grass-fed, we could eliminate 99% of the E.Coli that gets into our food supply. Doesn't that sound like a better way to go than irradiating our meat?

The environmental aspect: Properly managed grass-fed beef will actually build the soil up rather than depleting it. No chemicals means not killing the micro-organisms that help to create the soil. Having grass on the soil prevents erosion from both wind and water (and helps to keep the moisture levels up). Todd Churchill believes that we can really combat the increased carbon emissions using grass-fed cattle.

The animal welfare aspect: These cattle are not in a feedlot being pumped with antibiotics, being fed food that makes them sick, and are not standing their entire lives in a pile of smelly feces. These cattle are on grass, in fields, doing what they have been designed to do.

Some of you may say "Yes, but in the end, they still get slaughtered - and I've heard all those horrible stories about animal slaughter." Well, then you haven't heard of Lorentz Meats. Lorentz is the local meat processing plant. Thousand Hills Cattle Company uses Lorentz Meats for all of their processing. They do the whole thing - the slaughter, the hanging, the butchering, even some curing and cooking - all under one roof. They do everything as smoothly, calmly, and humanely as possible. Lorentz Meats was actually mentioned in Michael Pollan's book Omnivore's Dilemma for those reasons.

We got a small tour of Lorentz Meats. We missed the actual slaughtering, as they got done before we got there. But, anyone is welcome to come and see what they do and how they do it. We were able to look through a window into the kill room and also the processing room where they do the butchering. Today, they were butchering red deer.

Todd also took us to his farm south of town. He explained that he has specific things that he is looking for in both the cattle breed and how it is raised in order for it be Thousand Hills Cattle Company beef. It was interesting to hear his various opinions on types of grasses, how often to rotate the cattle, which breeds of cattle work best, where to get the best feeder cattle, etc. The guy is a font of knowledge. He's done his homework.

Thousand Hills Cattle Company is starting a line of raw dog and cat food, which they showed us in their warehouse. It looks pretty interesting and is just getting started. They said that if a store has their beef, they probably will have the raw dog/cat food - just maybe not out on display. So, if you are interested, you may need to ask for it.

I walked away having learned quite a lot about how Thousand Hills Cattle Company works, how they got to where they are, and why they do the things they do. I am even more excited about the fact that they are near us and we can reap the benefits of their hard work. But, most exciting of all, we all went home with free packets of their regular and habanero beef jerky. Yum!

My Mom Was My Weird Food Dealer

I've always loved to eat the heart and gizzard of the turkey. It is my mom's fault, really. She would always eat them when I was growing up - saying they were a special treat for her. My sisters heard the words "heart" and "gizzard" and looked sick. I immediately wanted to try them. So, mom gave me a small taste of each - and that was it. I was hooked. Since then, we shared them whenever there was turkey.

Mom is also to blame for my love of bone marrow. Again, this was one of "her treats", and so I felt that I must have some of this wondrous treat. She gave me my first bite - and again - I was hooked. My Mom - she dealt in weird food - and got her daughter hooked on it.

I will be honest in saying that I refused to eat tongue for a long time. I had this thing about eating something that could taste me back. However, I tried tongue at Meritage in St. Paul last year - and it was fabulous! It was so tender and delicate - I loved it.

So, I've been more determined to try some of those weird things that most people hear about and either start to gag or make the Mr. Yuck face. Ironically, that is the same reaction my brother makes to onions.

I have eaten sweetbreads - the glands of an animal to include the thymus and the pancreas. They are sweet - and very tender. I wasn't blown away by them, but they seem to be an economical use of an animal.

Blood sausage is another favorite. I tried it for the first time last year. Lorentz Meats in Cannon Falls makes their own and sells it in the local grocery and food stores. On a whim, I bought one. I heated it through and served it with homemade spaetzle. It was really good - a creamy texture that was more pudding than sausage. My husband isn't crazy about it, but it seems that I must have some in stock at all times.

When we bought a whole lamb a couple of years ago, we got the lamb liver, kidneys and heart. I made up the lamb kidneys and heart in a similar way to coq au vin - ending up with a red wine sauce with onion, garlic, mushrooms. The meal was awesome - the kidneys were very tender and had a liver taste to them - just not quite as strong.

I haven't tried brain yet, but will try it when I get a chance. We're getting a whole hog for our fall festival and have asked for pretty much everything except the stomach, intestines, and oink. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we do with the offal.

What about you all out there? Are you an adventurous food eater? What is the craziest thing you have eaten?

Busters on 28th: Beer and Food

Last night, after a long afternoon of digging a 105-foot trench, my husband and I went up to the Cities for some food and beer. We settled on Busters on 28th. We'd heard some good things about it - particularly its wide craft beer selection.

We walked into Busters and immediately got that neighborhood bar feel. There were are great mix of folk - families with kids, twenty-something hipsters, couples of all ages. It had that true "pub" feel - it wasn't just a bar people went to in order to get drunk and party, but rather a place people went to for a good time with family and friends.

It was pretty packed, but we got a table right away in this "seat yourself" establishment. We had very nice service throughout, even though it was very full.

Their fairly extensive draft beer menu had several I had tried and liked and a few that I had not. So I ordered the mixed (American and Import) beer flight. It is nice that Busters allows you to pick any 5 beers on their draft menu for the beer flight.I like beer flights - and not every place does them. I like trying new beers, but obviously can't do full glasses of more than a couple at one sitting. I ordered the Uinbroue Maudite, Lift Bridge's Farm Girl Saison, Blvd Tank #7, Magic Hat #9 and Kwak. As you can tell, I like Belgians. I'd already tried the Maudite, Farm Girl and Kwak, but Blvd Tank #7 and Magic Hat #9 were new to me.

The Husband and I both really liked Blvd Tank #7 - it was a very nice, easy drinking summer beer. It had a lot of aromatic hops, but didn't have too much bitterness. Very complex and fruity. Magic Hat #9 was quite different. It was dry but had almost no aroma (that we could smell). Malty and nutty. Interesting, but not something I could really drink a lot of. But, it was definitely leaning more "autumn" beer.

One thing I must talk about is the house-made potato chips. The menu calls them Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips. They are very nice, thin chips with the skins on. We didn't notice a lot of sea salt or vinegar on these chips (I had a few that had some good sea salt). But they were very snackable. We plowed through these babies - with the help of their french onion dip - in no time.

The Husband had the mock duck pizza and I ordered the oddly named "Elian Gonzalez". The pizza had a lot of spices going on - which was probably necessary or you would have had a very dull pizza. The crust - more that cracker-style. It certainly wasn't soggy, but it wasn't very exciting or flavorful.

The Elian Gonzalez shredded pork with sliced ham sandwich had a really nice ciabatta bread (from the bakery next door - A Baker's Wife). It had a good chewy crust and a nice soft texture inside that didn't disintegrate with the sandwich ingredients. I'm a sucker for good bread. I love bread. Unfortunately, the sandwich was overwhelmed by the pickle aioli. This seems to be their signature sauce (it was listed on several of their sandwiches and burgers). The problem was that the pickle aioli mixed with the gruyere and shredded pork in a way that reminded me of a tuna melt. It wasn't bad - it just didn't seem to achieve the flavor palette that I think they were trying to achieve.

I have to give a shout out for their fries. They weren't really crispy, but they brought me back to my childhood. They really reminded me of the fries my dad would make up at the potato warehouse during potato harvest. Again, that homemade/house-made fry - a bit soggy and greasy. But, I was immediately transported back to a small, cramped, poorly-lit room off the side of a huge, cavernous potato warehouse with a black deep fryer and thick, just-sliced potatoes browning away - and several dirty farmers snatching a few off a grease-soaked paper towel.

In the end, the beer selection was very good, the ambiance nice (although a bit loud), and the food ranged from ok to pretty good. I think it would be worth a return visit with some friends.

Do you have a favorite beer hall?

Food Resolutions

My husband and I really started to get into the "grow your own" movement this year. Not only do we have chickens that supply us with organic eggs, but we have a lot of fruits and vegetables growing on the property as well. We've had a lot of them in the past, but I must admit that I was overwhelmed with "what do you do with this". A lot of vegetables rotted on our kitchen table, drawing flies and oozing liquids. You can only make so much zuccini bread before you go insane. I felt so bad that so much food went to waste.

I resolved that this would not happen this year. I'm happy to say that aside from some zuccini and cucumbers (which we fed to our chickens - go "free" chicken feed!), we've done a lot with our food this year. We've made several batches of tomato sauce, plum sauce, jams, pickles, relish. I'm proud to say that we processed every single plum we could harvest. I'm particularly proud of the plum-raspberry jam.



It is a bit runny - but the taste is outstanding. The bits of plum skin got really gelatin-y and are completely infused with this wonderful sweet/sour/floral flavor. I have to say it is my favorite jam thus far.

We're continually adding to our edible plants - we added hazelnut bushes, High Bush cranberry bushes, and currants. We hope to add elderflower bushes as well.

Every year, I am resolved to do more with the food that we grow/produce. I am getting much more comfortable with the whole pickling/canning/jam process. I must say, I was quite squeamish about it - having heard all the scary death stories of entire counties being wiped out with a batch of bad peas. But still, I continue forward looking at new ways to process and preserve our food for later months.

What are you doing with food this year? Are you gardening? Are you processing/preserving? Do you have a favorite? Do you have suggestions? I'm all ears!

Here Goes

After much prodding from my husband to start a blog - here it is. My blog. It was sort of difficult to come up with "what my blog should be about". It seems that everyone has a blog these days. Heck, even animals and non-living creatures have blogs. I felt like I was a "Johnny-come-lately" - arriving so late the party was over. But, I decided, Why not!

Going over things, I realized that I am really passionate about a few things - food, drink, and music. I don't claim to be all-knowing or a master of any of these things. I just really enjoy them. What I have to say probably won't blow anyone's mind, but that's ok.

I say in my profile that I have been told that I "eat with gusto". My mom is the one who coined that phrase about me. When I was young, I ate so much all the time. When we went out to a restaurant, I would clean my plate and eat whatever everyone else couldn't finish. I had no concern about using the proper utensil or getting in there with my hands. I just went for it. My sister called me the "human garbage disposal".

I guess the point I'd like to make with this, my first post, is that I hope that I'm able to approach life in general like I've approached eating - with gusto. Looking back, I can find points in my life where I didn't "just go for it" - moments that I wonder what would have happened if I had. But, instead of dwelling on those past "what ifs", I plan on looking forward and hopefully live my life "with gusto". In keeping with that spirit - I hereby christen this my first blog post.